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A ruling Thursday by the National Labor Relations Board could complicate relations between healthcare organizations and their workers employed by staffing agencies. The board ruled that workers employed by a staffing agency are jointly employed by the agency and the organization where they're working. That means those organizations should be involved in any collective bargaining with the temporary workers and could be held liable for unfair labor practice cases filed with the federal government. (Rubenfire, 8/28)

Patients are increasingly turning to nurse practitioners instead of physicians for a less expensive healthcare alternative. Some experts say the trend is a solution to the staggering cost of medical treatments and the shortage of physicians, which is expected to exceed 46,000 within the next decade, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges. (Fryer, 8/29)

When Tom Essenpreis first signed up for his company's Anthem Blue Cross health plan, he checked out its website and came across a service that enables him to visit with a doctor online 24 hours a day. He downloaded it right away. "I immediately saw the utility of it," said the 35-year-old aerospace engineer from Hawthorne. The service came in handy one Saturday when his 2-year-old daughter had what he said was "goopy stuff clogging up the corner of her eye." (Zamosky, 8/28)